In Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) manages a network of monitors that sample various pollutants in the county’s air. Each year, ACHD publishes their plans for the network and invites the public to comment on these plans. That’s where you come in! ACHD is taking comments on their 2017 plan, but only until 5 p.m. on June 23rd. You can read GASP’s full comments here. They touch on the following points: Sulfur dioxide must be monitored downwind from Cheswick Power Station. All existing sulfur dioxide monitors are upwind of this very large source of this pollutant. Sulfur dioxide must also be monitored at Glassport. Previous monitoring there showed levels of sulfur dioxide higher than those measured in nearby Liberty. The regulations state that monitoring for this type of pollutant should happen at places of maximum concentration, so this monitor should be reinstalled. Diesel pollution should be monitored in Downtown Pittsburgh. Several recent studies have shown Downtown to be a hotspot of these emissions, which come from buses, trucks, trains, river vessels, and construction equipment. Air toxics (such as benzo(a)pyrene) should be monitored downwind of the nation’s largest coke works in Clairton. To read ACHD’s plan, visit their web page and look on the right-hand sidebar, or click here. Submit your own comments via email to Darrell.Stern@alleghenycounty.us. #airmonitoring #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #Glassport #sulfurdioxide

Students: Looking to increase air pollution awareness at your school, or spark sustainability efforts? Parents: Want your children to know more about air pollution, how they can protect themselves from exposure to poor air quality, and how they can reduce it? Teachers: Need a hands-on activity and a ton of air quality content? Youth are more affected by air pollution than adults, due to their developing lungs, larger lungs-to-body weight ratio, and higher levels of activity. Simply knowing when air quality is forecast to be poor can help protect them. In this program, teachers are given colored flags, a banner, guidance throughout the program, and an activity handbook including sample lesson plans and ideas to increase engagement. Join the other schools in Southwestern PA and 26 states and bring this program to your campus. To learn more, visit this link or contact Jessica at schoolflag@gasp-pgh.org or at 412-924-0604 x207. #AQI #airpollution #EPASchoolFlagProgram #AirQualityIndex #airquality

Fellow Breathers: Each week brings Pittsburgh another major accolade. Recent praise includes being listed by Forbes as one of America’s Best Places to Retire in 2015, Zillow naming Pittsburgh the Best Market for First-Time Home Buyers in 2015, and Zagat’s Top Food City of 2015. World class hospitals, amazing museums and performance venues, abundant green space, and other important factors have earned us these accolades. Unfortunately, we also come in near the top on most rankings of poor air quality. For almost two-thirds of 2015, the Pittsburgh region’s air quality was not “green” or “good,” days when the EPA considers air quality to be satisfactory. Air pollution harms quality of life, makes people sick, and shortens lives. Having a reputation for poor air quality discourages people and companies from moving to the region, and keeps some college students from wanting to stay here after graduation. One way GASP improves regional air quality is by educating people about the sources and effects of our air pollution, and what citizens can do to get more involved. We’ve done a lot of educating this year: We hosted three Making the Connection events to help people understand the relationship between air pollution and our health (below left), educated members of Pitt’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, taught students about air pollution in the Wilkinsburg School District, and brought members new and old to speak with the photographers of the In the Air exhibit at Pittsburgh Filmmakers (below right). This year, GASP staff and board members provided written or oral comment more than a dozen times to the Allegheny County Health Department, PA DEP, and federal EPA on everything from draft permits to proposed regulations. GASP legal staff increased their number of file reviews and Right-to-Know requests in 2015, thus increasing our ability to quickly respond to new sources of air pollution. By monitoring compliance data, we can identify sources that have been violating their permits and take appropriate actions to bring them into compliance. We launched the Air Permits Clearinghouse to provide the public with a one-stop shop for learning about larger stationary sources of air pollution in southwestern Pennsylvania. We continued our legal case against DTE Shenango Coke Works. Every quarter we checked and report on their compliance with multiple permit limitations. Shenango violated the limitations on the sulfur content of their coke oven gas, the door emissions standards, and the combustion stack opacity standards many times throughout 2015. While we recently learned that Shenango is closing soon, our important legal work continues with other facilities. And we competed in the Green Workplace Challenge, coming in first place in our category and achieving double-digit percentage reductions in our energy use. Another year of fighting for improved air quality is quickly coming to a close, but we’ve got lots on the horizon for next year. Your ongoing or new support will help us continue these important efforts. Please renew your membership or give an additional donation today! Donations can be made by check or at gasp-pgh.org. Membership to GASP makes a great gift as well (just let us know who the lucky recipients are). Thank you for your support of better air quality! #airpollution #sulfurdioxide #Shenango #ShenangoCokeWorks #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #airquality

We trust our buses to take our children to school and back in a safe manner. But some older diesel buses emit toxic pollution that harms the driver, the passengers, and everyone in the community near the buses. GASP gave testimony last night to the Pittsburgh Public School Board, asking them to require all clean buses in their new contracts with bus companies. Below is a copy of our testimony. Testimony from Jamin Bogi, Policy and Outreach Coordinator of the Group Against Smog and Pollution, to the Pittsburgh Public School Board of Education on the need to require the use of buses that emit less air pollution. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. My name is Jamin Bogi and I’m the Policy and Outreach Coordinator of the Group Against Smog and Pollution (or GASP). For 47 years we’ve worked to improve air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania through education, advocacy, and legal work. One component of our region’s air pollution is diesel emissions and one of the sources of those emissions is the school bus fleet. Our request, and the request of those who signed these more than 200 signed postcards, is simple: do not utilize any school buses that don’t have emission control devices on them. This means the bus must either be a 2007 or newer model that comes equipped with emissions controls from the factory or an older model that is retrofit with a diesel particulate filter. Diesel particulate matter is the #1 air pollution cancer risk in the region. Diesel particles are also linked to asthma attacks, heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, and reduced brain function. Children are especially vulnerable, as they breathe at a faster rate than adults and are physically closer to diesel pollution sources. And since their bodies are still developing, damage now could impact their bodies and minds for years to come. As you are in the process of negotiating new contracts with school bus companies, this is an optimal time for Pittsburgh Public Schools to make this demand of the companies who want to transport your students. As we approach 2016, it is perfectly reasonable to expect all school buses being used by the district to have air pollution controls. These controls can reduce toxic diesel emissions by up to 90%. By using this technology, your students and staff, the community, and the drivers would be exposed to significantly less air pollution. In addition to requiring all school buses used by the District to have particulate filters, we also recommend that you include language in the contracts which requires the bus companies you work with to train their drivers on the Pennsylvania diesel idling law. Additionally, these companies must know that Pittsburgh Public Schools takes the diesel idling law seriously and will not tolerate violations. We hope you will sincerely consider this request as there is no good reason to continue to allow students to ride old, polluting school buses when a clean solution is so readily available. Thank you for your time. #dieselexhaust #airpollution #exhaust #diesel #emissions #dieselemissions #airquality

Join GASP on Wednesday, Dec. 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ current exhibit “In the Air: Visualizing What We Breathe.” Hear from the photographers, who spent the last year traveling the region to meet people and visit places affected by poor air quality. You’ll also hear from the curators and GASP. The event is open to the public. Registration is free for current GASP members. Non-members are encouraged to make a donation and join GASP. Suggested donation is $20. Enjoy light appetizers, drinks, and great music! Also, debuting at the event is Alma Mura, a Croatian-Latin jazz trio! Alma Mura will play original works as well as interpret both well-known and obscure gems from the musical traditions of fado, flamenco, Cuban folk, and many more. This event will show appreciation for our current members and will hopefully generate some new ones.  Please share the flyer, seen below, with any that might be interested, and register here. #airquality #AlmaMura #PittsburghFilmmakers

Thanks to all of our Dashers, sponsors, and volunteers! Several hundred people from ages 8 to 72 (and lots of dogs too!) enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenic South Side riverfront trail on Halloween morning to run and walk in support of better air quality. Congrats to all finishers, and big applause to the top three: 1. Pierre Meunier, 17:38 2. Megan Tramaglini, 18:07 3. Mac Howison, 18:11 See all of the race times here. Take a look at some of the pictures taken by Native Tree Studios below or see the whole photoset here. You can also look for yourself in some more photos taken by one of our volunteers. Thanks again, and see you all next year! #airquality #CleanAirDash

In late October, leaders in the coking industry gathered in Pittsburgh for a multi-day conference. Environmental groups showed up as well, reminding the industry of the harm to their toxic emissions and petitioning them to use this gathering as an opportunity to share ways to reduce their air pollution. Below is a transcript of the comments given by our Executive Director. Good morning. My name is Rachel Filippini and I’m the Director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution. For nearly five decades GASP has worked to improve air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania. This week attendees of the Met Coke World summit are meeting to address opportunities for and challenges to their industry. I sincerely hope they will use this as an opportunity to tackle the air pollution they emit, which is a critical issue for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh ranks as one of the top 10 most polluted cities in the nation with regard to short- and long-term particle pollution—particles which increase the risk of heart and lung disease, adverse birth outcomes, cancer, and premature death. Air pollution from coke-making includes these particles, as well as benzene, a known carcinogen. These pollutants and others affect neighboring communities’ health and quality of life. Coke making is a large contributor to our air pollution problems and must be addressed in a serious and considerable way for us to truly make a difference in regional air quality. This summit is a chance for leaders and experts in the coke and steel making industry to critically analyze and address the air pollution they emit and to discuss technologies and work practices that can be used to drastically cut emissions and improve health, as well as local air quality. One facility of particular concern is the DTE Shenango Coke Works on Neville Island. Every quarter we check their compliance with a number of permit limitations. Shenango has violated the applicable limitation on the sulfur content of their coke oven gas twenty times in the second quarter of 2015. They also violated combustion stack opacity standards many times in this same time frame. These violations should have been corrected via consent agreements between the company and the Allegheny County Health Department. Unfortunately, the consent agreements are not correcting all the problems and appear to just be a band aid, not a long-lasting solution. Pittsburgh’s poor air quality harms our quality of life and makes people sick. It makes our region less attractive for businesses and residents to locate here. The Met Coke World Summit conveners should focus not only on the coke and steel making industry’s health and vitality, but the health and vitality of the communities in which they operate and how to reduce the toxic pollution they create. See the press release from the “play-in” event held by coalition partners nearby here. #coke #airpollution #Shenango #ShenangoCokeWorks #RachelFilippini #MetCokeWorld #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #airquality

This is our report on Shenango, Inc.’s compliance data from the third quarter of 2015. We review Shenango’s data every quarter to check its compliance with four limitations: a limitation on the sulfur content of Shenango’s coke oven gas; a limitation on visible emissions (in other words, smoke) from Shenango’s coke oven doors; a limitation on density of the visible emissions from Shenango’s battery combustion stack which prohibits visible emissions with opacity greater than or equal to 60%; and another limitation on visible emissions from Shenango’s battery combustion stack which prohibits visible emissions with opacity greater than or equal to 20% for more than three minutes during any one-hour period. Opacity is a measure of smoke’s density; smoke with an opacity of 60% blocks 60% of the light that would otherwise pass through it. Shenango violated the applicable limitation on the sulfur content of its coke oven gas three times in the third quarter of 2015. The number of violations in the third quarter is down from the 20 violations that occurred in the second quarter of 2015, but is greater than the one violation that occurred in the third quarter of 2014. Shenango must operate its battery of coke ovens so that smoke does not leak from more than five percent of its coke oven doors that are both in operation at a given time and not obscured from an inspector’s view. Shenango’s Title V Operating Permit requires it to inspect its door emissions at least once a day and is also subject to random inspections performed by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD). Shenango’s inspectors detected three violations of the 5% door standard in the third quarter of 2015. In contrast, the Health Department’s inspectors appear to have found twenty violations of that standard during the same time period, despite conducting fewer inspections. By way of further comparison, Shenango’s inspectors found no violations of this standard in both the second quarter of 2015 and the third quarter of 2014, while ACHD’s inspectors appear to have detected thirteen violations of this standard in the second quarter of 2015 and five violations in the third quarter of 2014. In the third quarter of 2015, Shenango violated the 60% combustion stack opacity standard 11 times; Shenango violated that standard ten times in the second quarter of 2015 and thirteen times in the third quarter of 2014. Shenango violated the 20% combustion stack opacity standard 204 times in the third quarter of 2015; Shenango violated that standard 168 times in the second quarter of 2015, and 204 times in the third quarter of 2014. The graphs that follow show that Shenango’s violations of the 20% and 60% combustion standards have continued at an increasing rate despite government enforcement actions in 2012 and 2014 that purportedly were designed to reduce those violations. The black diagonal line in each graph is a trend line generated by Microsoft Excel: #TitleV #Shenango #ShenangoCokeWorks #permit #violations

This is our latest report on Shenango, Inc.’s quarterly compliance data, covering newly-available data from the second quarter of 2015. We review Shenango’s data every quarter to check its compliance with: a limitation on the sulfur content of Shenango’s coke oven gas a limitation on visible emissions (in other words, smoke) from Shenango’s coke oven doors a limitation on density of the visible emissions from Shenango’s battery combustion stack which prohibits visible emissions with opacity greater than 60% and another limitation on visible emissions from Shenango’s battery combustion stack which prohibits visible emissions with opacity greater than 20% for more than three minutes during any one-hour period. Opacity is a measure of smoke’s density; smoke with an opacity of 60% blocks 60% of the light that would otherwise pass through it. Shenango violated the applicable limitation on the sulfur content of its coke oven gas 20 times in the second quarter of 2015. The number of violations in the second quarter is down from the 29 violations that occurred in the first quarter of 2015, but is greater than the 14 violations that occurred in the second quarter of 2014. Shenango must operate its battery of coke ovens so that smoke does not leak from more than five percent of its coke oven doors that are both in operation at a given time and not obscured from an inspector’s view. Shenango’s Title V Operating Permit requires it to inspect its door emissions at least once a day, and it is also subject to random inspections performed by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD). Shenango’s inspectors detected no violations of the 5% door standard in the second quarter of 2015. In contrast, the Health Department’s inspectors appear to have found thirteen violations of that standard during the same time period, despite conducting fewer inspections. By way of further comparison, Shenango’s inspectors found no violations of this standard in the first quarter of 2015 and one violation in the second quarter of 2014, and ACHD’s inspectors found three violations of this standard in the first quarter of 2015 and one violation in the second quarter of 2014. In the second quarter of 2015, Shenango violated the 60% combustion stack opacity standard ten times; Shenango violated that standard six times in the first quarter of 2015 and eight times in the second quarter of 2014. Shenango violated the 20% combustion stack opacity standard 168 times in the second quarter of 2015; Shenango violated that standard seventy-four times in the first quarter of 2015, and 125 times in the second quarter of 2014. The graphs that follow show that Shenango’s violations of the 20% and 60% combustion standards have continued at an increasing rate despite government enforcement actions in 2012 and 2014 that purportedly were designed to reduce those violations. The black diagonal line in each graph is a trend line generated by Microsoft Excel: #airpollution #Shenango #ShenangoCokeWorks #DTE #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #ACHD #airquality

She currently serves as the Acting Lead of CDC’s Healthy Community Design Initiative, National Center for Environmental Health. She’ll present on her research interests including the intersection between physical activity and air pollution exposure, health effects of traffic-related air pollution, and role of the built environment and community design on population health, including physical activity levels, obesity, air pollution exposure, and respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Thursday, September 24 5-8 p.m. (Networking/refreshments 5-6 p.m; presentation begins at 6 p.m.) Allegheny General Hospital, Magovern Conference Center 320 East North Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15212 Free and open to all but registration is required Continuing Medical Education credits available Our other speaker is Dr. Albert Presto, Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He investigates the contributions of primary and secondary air pollution with ambient measurements, laboratory experiments, testing of pollution sources, and atmospheric modeling. Dr. Presto will discuss regional air quality issues and his collaboration with medical professionals to develop detailed studies of pollutant exposure on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis and to better understand the relationships between pollutant emissions and adverse health effects. Care for our air quality? Then see you there! #airpollution #makingtheconnection #AlleghenyGeneralHospital #DrAlbertPresto #airquality